Bob DiPiero
As a die-hard rockin’ performer, hit songwriter and producer, Jeffrey Steele is just getting started. With his latest album, Gold, Platinum, No Chrome And More Steele Greatest hits Vol. II, released this summer following the release of “Hell On Wheels” in March 2006, Steele is hitting the ground running. Among his many accolades over the past few years, Steele has been named BMI Songwriter of the Year for 2003 and NSAI Writer of the Year for 2003, 2005 and 2006.
His No. 1 song recorded by Rascal Flatts “What Hurts The Most,” was nominated for a Grammy for Best Country Song and received a BMI Pop award as well. If that wasn’t enough, BMI recently recognized Steele for over 17 million airplays for hits recorded by artists such as Montgomery Gentry, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Trace Adkins, LeAnn Rimes, Rascal Flatts, Van Zant and many others.
If Steele is not writing a hit song, he is probably producing or performing one! He lent his producing skills on the Montgomery Gentry album’s My Town and Some People Change and the Keith Anderson album, XXL. Steele currently produced the new Keith Anderson album, slated to drop in 2007.
Steele spends time performing his own material on the road with artists such as Van Zant, Delbert McClinton, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley and Lynyrd Skynyrd. When he returns to Nashville to write, he simultaneously oversees his publishing company, 3 Ring Circus Music, and its hit writers who have recently enjoyed success with “My Wish” (Rascal Flatts) “Brand New Girlfriend” (Steve Holy), “Help Somebody” (Van Zant) and “Everytime I Hear Your Name” (Keith Anderson).
The former lead singer of the group Boy Howdy moved to Nashville in 1994. The last of five kids born in Burbank, Cali., Steele's upbringing was filled with every type of music possible. From Led Zeppelin and the Beatles, all the way to Hank Williams and Waylon Jennings. As he continues to crank out the hits, whether it is on paper, behind the glass, or on stage; he is constantly looking for what’s next. “Constant friction is what it’s all about,” he explains. “Constant friction.”